It was October 5th, 1995, a snowy day in Hogsmeade.
Ellie seated herself by the Weasley twins in a dirty pub off the beaten track, her cheeks flushed red from the bitter cold. Hermione had told her to gather the small group of students at Hog's Head, claiming that she needed to give Harry a pep talk before hand.
"What's your girl got us all here for?" Fred asked loudly, but the rest of the students were too immersed within their own conversations to hear him.
"Fred, stop being so loud," Ellie whispered harshly as she threw a playful punch at his arm in attempt to tone him down.
The door suddenly swung open to let in a frosty gust of wind, causing the band to turn their heads in the direction of the Golden Trio. The atmosphere went silent as they watched the three take their seats at the front. Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her chair, but Ellie beamed at her in reassurance, instantly easing the Gryffindor's nerves.
"Um... Hi," Hermione greeted as she stood up abruptly, the sound of the screeching chair breaking the silence.
The group simply stared at her, not responding. While the rest stared at the girl expectantly, Ellie nodded eagerly, her smile wide in attempt to lighten the mood.
"So... you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."
"Why?" an unfamiliar voice objected, but Ellie recognized him to be Zacharias Smith, a Chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team.
Although Ellie wanted to speak up on his snarky comment, she refrained from doing so, as she feared that she might end up stirring drama.
"Why?" Ron repeated sarcastically. "Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot."
"Tosspot," Ellie snickered quietly. "I've got to use that one more often."
"You've got a problem?" Zacharias suddenly snapped at Ellie. "Don't think we've all forgotten about about Skeeter's article last year."
"Mate, back down," George suddenly snapped at the boy.
Zacharias slid down in his seat, glaring at the redhead and Ellie. Fred and George bumped their fists together, laughing at the boy to embarrass him.
"So he says," Zacharias muttered, nodding at Harry in attempt to return to the conversation.
"So Dumbledore says," Hermione intervened.
"So Dumbledore says because he says!" Zacharias objected. "The point is, where's the proof?"
"If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed..." another boy, Michael Corner, trailed.
Ellie's head snapped in his direction, her fists clenching at his statement.
"I'm not going to talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, you might as well clear out now," Harry announced hastily as he stood up.
"Come on, Hermione," Harry whispered, turning to the girl who sat beside him. "They're just here because they think I'm some sort of freak."
"Harry, wait!" Hermione called out in a whisper.
"Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?" Luna spoke up, saving Harry from leaving.
Ellie smiled at the Ravenclaw, knowing that she had intentionally asked that to keep him here. The room went quiet for a moment, Ellie and Hermione locking eyes with each other with pupils of hope. The room's atmosphere changed drastically, the students now intrigued.
"Yes," Hermione answered, the corners of her mouth curling upwards slightly as she felt the supportive stare of her girlfriend. "I've seen it."
"Blimey, Harry. I didn't know you could do that," Dean marveled with fascination.
"And he killed a basilisk," Neville chirped. "With the sword in Dumbledore's office."
"It's true," Ginny agreed.
"Third year, he fought off about a hundred Dementors at once," Ron spoke excitedly.
"And last year, he really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh," Hermione stated.
"He did. He protected Cedric with everything he had. Brought his body back to us," Ellie added.
Fred clasped down on Ellie's shoulder lightly, rubbing it gently. He knew it took a lot for the Hufflepuff to finally speak of the past, and even George reached over to pat her back.
"Wait..." Harry cut in. "Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that. But the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I nearly always had help..."
"He's just being modest," Hermione defended.
"No, Hermione, I'm not. Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there... when you're a second away from being murdered... or watching a friend die right before your eyes... you don't know what that's like."
The rooms excitement had died down as Harry proceeded to sit again, sighing loudly at the remembrance of his past battles.
"You're right, Harry, we don't. That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance at beating..." Hermione hesitated as she sat back down. "Voldemort..."
"He's really back," a younger student murmured.
Harry nodded solemnly, though to his surprise, the others nodded in agreement.
"You did it," Ellie mouthed to her girlfriend, watching as Ron excitedly set up a table in front of them.
Hermione withdrew a piece of parchment titled Dumbledore's Army from the insides of her coat, placing a quill on top. The students formed a line quickly, each taking their turn at signing their name.
After everyone had signed up, Harry started to lead them out of the pub, his body language much more energetic than earlier. Ellie skipped to the front momentarily, grabbing Hermione's hand to pull her to the back of the group.
"I'm proud of you, love," Ellie grinned, her voice low to ensure no one had heard her.
"I couldn't have done it without you."
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything."
"You didn't have to," Hermione shrugged. "Just you being there... it was enough."
Ellie smirked as she quickly Hermione by her scarf, letting the group walk in front of them as the Hufflepuff pulled them both behind a wall, hidden from view. Ellie smashed her lips against her girlfriend's passionately, pushing her against the wall as Hermione kissed back eagerly. It only lasted for a few seconds before Ellie pulled away with a giggle.
"We gotta go now," Ellie grinned.
"But we just started!" Hermione whined.
"Don't be silly, darling. I just wanted to kiss you. They're already leaving us, look!" Ellie pointed to the group, whose figures were now growing smaller ahead of them.
"Ugh, fine," Hermione sighed dramatically. "You always do this to me."
"We can continue another time, how's that?" Ellie winked.
The Hufflepuff didn't wait for a response as she quickly grabbed Hermione's hand, pulling her behind as she jogged to catch up with the group.
"You go on ahead. I'll stay back here," Ellie whispered as they neared them.
Hermione nodded before strode quickly to catch up with Harry at the front, her girlfriend staying behind to approach the twins.
"Fred. George," Ellie greeted. "You two been okay?"
"We're fantastic!"
"Magnificent!"
"Over-the-top!"
"Never better!"
"Guys!" Ellie laughed.
"No, really. We're doing fabulous," Fred finally answered.
"Actually, we have big plans coming up," George announced as he stretched his arms to exaggerate how big the plans were.
"Well, aren't you two going to tell me?" Ellie questioned.
"That'd ruin all the fun!" Fred snorted with a hearty chuckle.
"You guys are secretive!"
"Oh yeah? Were you not just snogging Granger five minutes ago?" George teased, shimmying his shoulders as he spoke.
Ellie immediately brought her fist to George's arm, only invoking a hearty laughter from the other brother. She proceeded to playfully hit Fred straight afterwards, but he didn't seem to mind. Though the twins got on her nerves, she couldn't help but smile; and for the first time since the start of the new school year, she felt at home again.